20 Weirdest Things Sent Into Space

For nearly 60 years, man has been exploring space. Probes, people, and various types of space craft have been launched into space to expand knowledge about this final frontier. Excluding the necessities, there have been some really weird objects sent to space. Here is a list of the 20 weirdest things sent into space.

On August 5, 2011, NASA launched a space probe to orbit the planet Jupiter. It was to orbit the planet for a year.

On the probe, Nasa included some special Lego figurines. As part of the partnership between NASA and the LEGO company, these figures are used to help inspire children to explore STEM – the integrated learning of science, technology, engineering and mathematics.

The first figure is of Galileo with a telescope. This was to honor the important discoveries about Jupiter by Galileo Galilei when he pointed a telescope to the sky all those years ago. They also included a figure of the god Jupiter, whom the planet was named, and his wife, Juno. Jupiter, in Roman mythology, was the equivalent of the Greek god Zeus, who drew a veil of clouds around himself to hide his mischief. This figure is holding a lightning bolt. His wife Juno, who is holding a magnifying glass, could peer through this veil to see Jupiter’s true nature.

19. Lego sets

Before the special Lego figures were sent on the probe to Jupiter, the very first Lego sets were sent on the space shuttle Endeavour’s final launch for the International Space Station. On May 16, 2011, NASA launched the first Lego sets in space to the astronaut Cady Coleman who was living on the ISS. The Lego sets were sent as part of a program that connects teachers and students on Earth with the astronauts on the ISS. Experiments are conducted by the astronauts that are sent via video to classrooms where children and teachers can participate in the lessons. The Lego sets help to show children the effects of microgravity on simple machines by building these models. The children were able to build the same sets with the astronaut during the experiment to give them a full understanding of the experimentation process.

18. Laughter

In 1977, Nasa launched the Voyager 1 and 2 probes into space. The mission of these probes was to better understand the outer solar system. The probes were loaded with various items and paraphernalia in case they were ever found by other life forms. These items included a golden record that contained various images and sounds from Earth, including the sound of someone laughing.

In December of 2016, there was a contest for various people to submit their best laugh via an app. These laughs were then listened to and voted on. The laugh that was chosen was transmitted to the ISS where it was then printed on a 3-D printer in space, making the laugh the first piece of art created in space.

16. Weird animals

On February 3, 2010, Iran’s space program sent one rodent, two turtles, and several worms into outer space. In 2013, they continued their live animal testing with two separate space launches of two monkeys, both of which were reportedly retrieved unharmed. Iran had planned to send humans into space by 2018 after a final animal mission of a Persian cat planned for 2016. Unfortunately, their space program was put on hold in 2015.

15. Jamestown cargo tag

In March 2007, on the space shuttle Atlantis, NASA placed artifacts from Jamestown, the first English settlement in the Americas. Along with two sets of coins commemorating the town, they also sent a lead cargo tag that was found in a well by archaeologists researching the colony. The tag was believed to be from a crate or trunk shipped to the settlement, that read “Yames Towne.”

The Ninety-Nines is an international organization of women pilots, of which, Amelia Earhart served as the first president in 1929. Shannon Walker, a NASA astronaut and member of this group, was entrusted with taking the legendary aviator’s watch aboard the Soyuz TMA-19 and ISS expedition 24 and 25, in 2010.

13. A lightsaber

To honor the 30th-anniversary release of Star Wars, the prop lightsaber used by Luke Skywalker in Return of the Jedi, was launched into space. This beloved prop was aboard the Discovery in October 2007.

12. Dimes

The second flight of Project Mercury launched in July 1961. Astronaut Gus Grissom was aboard this first human flight into space. He decided to bring with him 50 dimes, 3 $1 bills, two sets of pilot wings, and small models of the capsule. He felt that these things would instantly become more valuable once they return from the flight. Unfortunately, after landing in the Atlantic Ocean, the capsule flooded and the items had to be left behind when he was retrieved. The capsule was recovered 30 years later and some of the dimes were found.

Due to potential problems with crumbs, astronauts are often forced to deal with dehydrated food products for sustenance. However, in 1965, astronaut John Young, displeased with the food options, smuggled a corned beef sandwich onto the Gemini 3 mission. He and his co-pilot, Gus Grissom, shared the contraband during the 5-hour mission.